Nothing to fear but Intolerance

Nothing to fear but Intolerance
by Mike Madias, Clinical Sociologist and Columnist

"Slice-o-Life"

March 18, 2004

Columnist Mike Madias Businessmen, they drink my wine,
plowmen dig my earth.
None of them along the line
know what any of it is worth.

From "All along the Watchtower"
by Bob Dylan

I have sexual preferences that some people might consider eccentric or even abominable. I have opinions about government that people of all other political persuasions find to be incomprehensible. I've been dubbed a fascist, a communist and an anarchist. I give daily devotion to Isis, Osiris, and Zeus. I don't like the Interstate highway system, seeking instead the road less taken. My library contains St. Augustine, Sartre, DeSade and Superman. And what I have on my hard drive is my business and my business alone. Heresy might be my middle name.

Despite this, all could be well. (We still live in a moderately free country.) It doesn't matter to me if I am an outsider, as long as editors publish my copy and occasionally pay me for it. But, I find that most of the people I encounter do not like being bewildered, confused, uncertain and vulnerable. And they consider anyone who would throw them into doubt as an agent of the Adversary.

What keeps me out of the loop is an unusual twist to my thinking. I am usually bewildered.. I equate off kilter states of consciousness with being truly alive. Disagreement, discourse, are debate are fine. They foster doubt, bewilderment, confusion and uncertainty. I wish we had more of it.

And so, I do not hate those who might think I am crazy, naive, out of touch, or perverted. On the contrary, I am curious about them. I will try a belief system or world view on for size, like a funny hat, and then look in the mirror with amazement. At very late middle age I an still hungry for new experience and sensation. That's me.

It is those who squelch debate and vilify dissenters who threaten me and my freedom. Some Americans not only disagree with the practice of homosexuality, they say that it is a God forsaken abomination. Some beat up gays. Others not only disagree with pacifists, they call them traitors, and would arrest them as enemy combatants. Some disagree with pagans, others want to see them tossed into the deepest pits of Hell. In the past they burned such people at the stake. In Michigan some environmental activists, concerned about clean water, are under federal grand jury investigation for what the papers call eco-terrorism. Camp X-ray at Guantanamo is filled with detainees, taken thousands of miles from their homes and families. After being held incommunicado for two years, some are being released. They can't all have been terrorist operatives, can they?

What we are experiencing here and now is a state of no-tolerance for outsiders, their behaviors and their ideas. Following that is the lust to punish those who voice disagreements. It is militant political, social, sexual, and cultural orthodoxy. It is a party line. It is no surprise the phrase "political correctness" comes from the management of an Orwellian dystopia.

I fear that our society has retreated from the ideas of its founders (like Franklin, Jefferson and Madison) and into the grasp of it's self appointed experts and authorities. Defenders of the Bush administration's policies are certain that they are in the right; that they are patriotic and wise statesmen. Well, maybe they're not-not wise or patriotic. Maybe they are just liars and cheats.

Just for the record, I am not a happy-go-lucky goof ball. I am serious to the point of being long winded and boring. Things keep me up at night and even drive me from my bed in the early morning hours to write the latest HARDBALL. I hate war. Ellen hates war. Splinter (a Jack Russell terrier) also hates war.

Pleased to meet you. I hope you've guessed my name.

shalom

Mike

And good night Fala, wherever you are. ***

Photo of Mike Madias courtesy of the author

A clinical sociologist living in the Metropolitan Detroit area, Mike's work has appeared in The Detroit News. He may be reached by e-mail at DetroitHardball@hotmail.com.